Paris Accord Ratification Awaits Submission of NDCs

Iran’s Guardians Council has returned the bill on the landmark Paris Agreement on combating climate change to the Majlis for further review due to the lack of annexed documents concerning nationally determined contributions (NDCs).

The climate accord was signed in December 2015 in the French capital, Paris, by nearly 200 countries. It was approved in the Iranian Parliament in November 2016 and was submitted to the Guardians Council for final ratification.

The council returned the bill maintaining that the review and study of the bill is not possible without the NDCs, Snn.ir reported.

NDC is a document clearly specifying the commitments of each country with regard to the level and method of reducing carbon dioxide emission and oil and gas consumption.

DOE officials insist that the accord has been signed in Paris without any annexes and amendments. This is while the Guardians Council’s report has pointed to three paragraphs in the articles of the deal in which the document is mentioned.

Majlis Research Center has also warned against ratifying the deal without a thorough study of the NDC, as it could have adverse consequences for the country’s economy.

With the recent change in DOE’s management and staff, the future of the historic agreement is unclear, especially after the new management focused its attention on the issue of water shortage and stressed that other environmental issues are of secondary importance.

Since its launch, the Paris Agreement has had opponents and proponents. Critics of the deal claim that adherence to the agreement will impose a financial burden estimated at $17 million. They have warned that it will eventually force Iran to let go of its oil and gas resources to reduce the emission of carbon dioxide.

Others have predicted that Iran’s economic growth will be disturbed following the decline in oil demand and prices.

Supporters, however, see it as an opportunity for Iran to implement its development plans in line with a low-carbon economy, as it is currently among the top 10 producers of greenhouse gases.